Folding and stacking machine



May 5, 1942' r H. w. GABBERT 2,282,126

FOLDING AND STACKING MACHINE ATTORNEYI May 5, l942- H. w. GABBERT l l FOLDING AND STACKING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1940 5 sheets-snee; s

FIG-8 f/ |39 92 87a 87 9 9 Oeo N Il

e6 INVENTOR FIG 9 BY HUGH W. GABBERT ATTORNEYS May 5, 1942 H. w. GABBERT 2,282,126

' FOLDING AND sTAcKING MACHINE yFiled June 24, 1940 5 sheets-sheet 4v ATTORNEY.:

5 sheets-sheet s May 5, 1942. H. w. GABBERT FOLDING AND STACKING MACHINE Eiled .June 24, 1940 -I o B 7 3 4 6 6 I.. T l l G. m u .n n W. H -1-- B ,J 5 l WNW IIII I| .I l L 4 u o Il H I. Tl .2. .I l N w 5 O f 8 nm |..|1|.. 3 W m, l iii-- mw w 8 c Illl lol on. ,-:II 0 5 5 9 o I M m O 2 ,I m -Il r FIG-I4 j 7ORNEYS Patented May 5, 1942 3 FOLDING AND STACKING MACHINE Hugh W. Gabbert, Norwood, Ohio, assignor to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 24, 1940, Serial No. 342,045

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for folding, stacking and counting fabric articles.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide in the minimum space a machine for folding an article longitudinally by folding wings which act upon the article as it moves through the machine. To this end certain improvements have been made in the path of travel of the article and improvements in the conveying means for feeding the article along that path.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for longitudinally folding the article as it moves along a path, together with special arrangements of plates for folding and separating various layers of the article so that the same is delivered in a more exact and precisely folded condition.

Another object of the present invention is the provision oi novel apparatus for controlling the cross folding cf an article which has already been folded longitudinally.

Other objects include novel mechanism for stacking and counting the folded articles and improvements in the drive means for the folding and stacking mechanism whereby the article is acted upon in the desired sequence by apparatus which acts only when an article is passing through the machine.

Other objects and advantages of the present f? invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and specification and the essential features thereof will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a combined folding and stacking machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmental sectional View taken along the longitudinal center line 2--2 of Fig. 5; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional View taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional View taken on the line l-l of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan View of the machine of Fig. l; Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmental view of the clutch mechanism of Figs. l and 5, looking in the direction of the arrows B-B of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmental detail View looking in the direction of the arrows l-l of Fig. 1;` Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmental detail view of the clutch mechanism taken substantially in the position of the line 8-8 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a partial sectional View taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line I Il-I D of Fig. 5; Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmental elevational View looking in the direction of the arrows I i-l l of Fig. 5; Fig. 12 is a partial secsupported at its rear end on the bracket 35.

trated, the entire folding and stacking mechanisrn is supported on the general framework 29. This framework supports a table along which the article is moved for the longitudinal folding operation and which comprises in general a plate 2l which extends from the front of the machine to the point 22 (Fig. 10) toward the rear of the machine near the cross folding apparatus. This plate or table is supported at either side by angle members 23. As best seen in Fig. 1, this table extends first upwardly at a rather steep angle to provide the necessary elevation and thereafter downwardly past the wings which produce the longitudinal folds in the article, which operation is more efficiently performed because of the steeper inclination of this portion of the machine.` A conveyor belt 24 serves to carry the article through the longitudinal folding portion of the machine. This conveyor belt passes around a drive roller 25 at the front of the machine, thence over the surface of the table 2l, over the roller 26 at the rear of the machine andreturns over the idler rollers 21 and 23 near the front of the machine. To aid in feeding the article up the steep incline at the front of the machine, a pair of side conveyor belts 29 are provided also driven by the roller 25 passing over the surface of table 2l to the high point of the table where they pass through slots 3l) to the lower side of the table and thence over rollers 3| for the return run of the conveyors. A cover plate 32 is provided to prevent the articles turning up as they pass over the peak of the table. This cover plate has a curled front edge through which passes a bar 33 which rests uponupturned wings Zia which are integral with or secured to the table 2l.

The table or plate 2| is folded over to provide the longitudinal folding wings.2 lb and 2 Ic. The wing Elo begins at a point midway of the wing 2 Ib so that viewed from the front of the machine the action of these wings is to first fold the right side of the article over upon the center and to later fold the left side of the article over upon the first fold. The wing 2lb is secured at its rear end to the bracket 34 and the wing 2Ic is As best seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the right-hand edge of plate 2| is bent downwardly at 2| f from bracket 34 to the rear end of the machine and is bolted to a supporting plate 36 and to the angle 23 on that side of the machine channel. The left edge of plate 2| from bracket 35 to the rear end of the plate is bent downwardly as at 2|g and is bolted to a supporting plate 31 and to the angle 23 on that side of the machine channel.

Riding plates are provided for separating, guiding and more securely folding the various layers of the article as it passes along the conveyor 24. Riding plate 38 is secured at its forward end to the bracket 32a which carries one end of the cover plate 32. rests upon the central portion of the article which is engaged with the conveyor. A second riding plate 39 is secured at its forward end to the bracket 34 and rests on top of the fold formed by the wing 2|b. A `third riding plate 48 is sei.' r cured at its forward end to the bracket 35 and rests upon the fold formed by the wing Zic. These plates extend slightly beyond the point 22 (Fig. 10) and to the point where the cross: folding operation takes place. Figs. 3 and 4, it will be seen that special form has been given the riding plates to secure the more exact folding of the article. The plate 38 has its opposite side edges bent upwardly so that this plate is of trough form. Plate 39 has its f right edge bent downwardly so as to partially embrace the right-hand folded edge of the article. The plate 40 has its left edge bent downwardly so as to partly embrace the left-hand folded edge of the article.

Other plates are provided along the longitudinally foldededges of the article to closely confine it until it reaches the point where the cross folding operation takes place at which point the machine channel is widened. This keeps the article in the desired longitudinally folded position until the cross fold takes place at which time room is provided for the necessary fiattening and widening of the article as the cross fold is made. are parallel vertical plates 4| on the right side of the machine viewed from the front and 42 on the left side of the machine. These plates are spaced properly by spacer members 43 which in turn are secured to the supporting plates 86 and 31 which define in general the channel of this portion of the machine.

At the rear end of the machine beyond the point where the cross fold is made the table for supporting the longitudinally folded article is ar- '.1

ranged in a novel manner to conserve space and to accurately control the cross fold. As best seen in Fig. 10, at this point an auxiliaryl table 44 is provided between the plates 36 and 31. This plate is substantially a continuation of the table 2| and the surface of the conveyor belt 214 and curves from the point of cross fold arcuately downward toward the rear of the machine. Above the side edges of this auxiliary table are provided guide plates 45 which lie abovev the The free end of this riding plate Referring again to i' The plates provided for this purpose The shaft 45a of roller 45 rides w in Fig. 12 and guide tongues 52 and 44a best seen in Fig. 10 guide the completely folded article through and beyond the folding rollers. The guide tongue 52 is mounted on the machine frame as shown and the guide tongue 44a is bent down from the forward edge of the table plate 44 previously mentioned. The drive for the folding rollers is best seen in Figs. l, 11 and 12. The shait of roller 26 (which is driven by conveyor belt 24) carries a sprocket 26a which is connected by chain 53 with sprocket 41a which is secured to one end of the shaft of roller 41. On the other end of this shaft is the pinion 41h which meshes with pinion 4Gb carried by the shaft for roller 46 so that the folding rollers turn in unison and in opposite directions.

The means for feeding the longitudinally folded article to the cross folding rollers comprises a folding blade 54 mounted on arm 55 which is pivotally mounted on a portion of bracket 35. A projection 35a of the bracket engages an adjustable stop 55a on the folding blade arm so as to limit downward movement of the folding blade. An arm 55?) rigidly connected with the shaft which forms the pivotal mounting for arm 55 extends downwardly and is connected by spring 5B with a portion of the frame so that the folding blade 54 is biased in an upward direction. Means for actuating the folding blade is connected at the forward end of rod 51 which passes through an opening in the arm 55h and motion is transmitted from rod 51 to arm 55h through a coil spring 58 which is secured between the arm and the collar 59 on the end of the rod. As best seen in Fig. 8 the rod 51 extends to the front of the machine where it is pivotally connected to the free end of an arm 60 which in turn is pivotally mounted at 6| on a bracket 62 connected with the machine frame. On an intermediate portion of the arm is mounted a roller E3 which coacts with a cam 64 which in turn is rigidly secured to a sleeve 65 (Fig. 9) which is freely-rotatable on shaft 66 which in turn is journalled in the machine frame. The drive means for cam E4 and sleeve 65 is a one-revolution clutch mechanism best shown in Fig. 8 which will presently be described. The actuation of this one-revolution clutch mechanism is controlled by the armature of solenoid 51, the energization of which is accomplished by means arranged in the path of the article as it moves along the auxiliary table portion 44 toward the rear of the machine.

This mechanism for initiating the action of the cross folding blade will now be described. Through a slotted opening 44h in plate 44 eX- tends a movable arm 68 which is adapted to tilt a mercury switch G9 about its pivotal mounting 18 on a radius arm 1| which in turn is pivotally mounted at 12 in a bracket carried by the machine frame. he point 12 is at the center of the arc formed by the plate 44.

Means is provided for controlling the position of the arm 68 along the auxiliary table 44 so as to control the point of cross fold.v This means is best shown in Figs. 5, 'l'v and 11. On the shaft which forms the pivot point at 12 is provided an arm which is connected by a link 96 With an arm 91 which in turn is rigidly mounted on rod S8 which extends toward the front of the machine and is there bent outwardly as shown at 98a to form a handle. An index plate 99 is provided adjacent the handle. By rotation of the rod 98 the arm 1| and the arm 68 are placed in any desired position. Friction means is provided so that this arm may be held in any one of a multiplicity of positions. This means comprises a friction disk |00 fixed to the machine frame and a disk |0| rigidly mounted on rod 98. Between disk |00 and collar |02 on the end of rod 98 is a spiral spring |03 which yieldingly urges disk |8| toward disk |00. A surface lof suitable friction material |84 preferably of rubber or leather is provided between the engaging faces of disks |00 and |0I.

Referring to Fig. 16, it will be seen that the closing of the mercury switch 69 completes the energization of the solenoid 61 which is in circuit with the electrical supply lines for the machine driving motor 13 so as to initiate actuation of the clutch mechanism of Fig. 8. The drive for the folding apparatus is as follows: Motor 13 which is carried by the frame of the machine is connected by driving belt 14 with a pulley 15 on shaft 16 which is suitably journalled in the frame. A sprocket 11 on shaft '16 is connected by chain 18 with a sprocket 25a on the shaft of the conveyor drive roller 25. A pulley"|9 on shaft 16 is connected by belt 88 with a pulley 8| on shaft 66. Keyed or pinned Ion shaft 68 is the toothed wheel 82 which therefore rotates continuously. The one-revolution clutch mechanism of Fig. 8 comprises an arm 83 rigidly secured to sleeve 65 and in the present instance integral with the cam 64. A latch member 84 is pivotally connected to the free end of this arm, This latch member comprises portions 84a and 84h. 84a has a bifurcated end which supports a pin 85 adapted to engage between the teeth of wheel 82 and biased toward engagement by the t The pin 85 is normally held out of so as to disengage the stop 81a from the latch member 84 which permits the pin 85 to engage between the teeth of wheel 82. The continuously rotating wheel then carries arm 83 and cam 84 through one revolution so as to actuate the folding blade 54 through arm 80, rod 51 and arm 55D. This causes downward movement of blade 54, feeding the longitudinally folded article between the cross folding rolls. As soon as the article is moved out of engagement with the arm 68 the switch 59 is so constructed that it returns to its circuit-opening position thus deenergizing .solenoid 81. The armature 81a therefore drops bringing stop 81a into the path of the latch member portion 84h so that when it has made one revolution the latch member strikes the stop and lifts the pin 85 out of engagement with the wheel 82.

Because of the pivotal connection between the latch member 84 and the arm 83 reverse motion of arm 83 is possible which might again result in engagement of the pin 85 with the wheel 82. Means is provided to prevent this comprising a stop 98 which is pivotally mounted on the bracket 89 at the point 9|. This stop is yieldingly held by a spring 92 against a limiting pin 93 which is carried by a guide 94 which guides the motion of lever 81. In this position the sto-p 90 lies back of the pin connection of the latch member 84 with the arm 83. As this pin connection Lil) moves in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 8 during its one revolution, the stop 98 is free to move in a clockwise direction permitting the parts to reach the position of Fig. 8 when the stop 98 drops in the position the-re shown and prevents any counterclockwise movement -of arm 83.

The stacker mechanism comprises a combined chute and stacker plate |05 best seen in Fig. 10 which is carried by a frame structure which is mounted to freely oscillate about the shaft |05 supported by the machine frame. The plate |05 at its forward and upper end is substantially the full width of the folding machine channel so as to receive a folded article. At the point |01 (Figs. 10 and 15) the plate narrows and from there to the rear end of the plate the portion |8501. extends between a pair of conveyor belts |88. These belts at their forward ends pass around pulleys |09 which rotate with shaft |06 and at their rearward ends pass around rollers ||8 which are adjustably supported in the stacker frame. The conveyor belts intersect the plane of the plate |05 at an angle, the conveyor belts lying above the plane of the plate at the point |01 and lying below the plane of the plate at the rear end of the stacker. The purpose of this arrangement is to provide a positive movement of the article as it enters the stacking apparatus and the driving force of the conveyor belts is gradually relieved as the article approaches the end of its movement along the stacking plate. Means is provided for varying the angularity of the delivery run of the belts |08 relative to the stacker plate. The means here shown comprises a pair of angles ladjustably mounted on the plates 36 and 31. Lifting the belts at this point extends their carrying effect farther into the stacking device. This may be desirable in the case of heavier and stiffer articles. When the articles are lighter it may be desirable to lower the belts so as to avoid any tendency to crumple the article as it moves into the stacker against the end stop.

Means is provided for supporting a pile of stacked articles above the free end of the stacker plate |05. This means comprises a pair of vertically extending plates |12 on opposite sides of the pile and mounted for vertical reciprocation. The plates ||2 are guided by blocks ||3 which move loosely in slots ||4 which extend through the stack housing l5 and registering slots in the housing support H8. The blocks |3 have larger cover blocks |1 on their outer faces to hold the plates I2 in position.

vMeans to provide for reciprocating the stack holding plates ||2 downwardly as the free end of stacker plate |05 moves upwardly so that the individual movement of each of these portions of the stacker device is half of that which would be required of the stacker plate if it alone were required to move the folded article to position above the supporting plates |2. To this end the plates ||2 are carried by a yoke ||8 which is pivotally connected at its lower end to an arm ||9a of a T-shaped member ||9 which is pinned to a shaft |28 which in turn is journalled in brackets |2| connected with the frame. Another arm ||9b is connected by the link |22 with the stacker plate |85. A third arm H90 is pivotally connected with a rod |23 which extends to the forward end of the machine and is there connected with actuating mechanism to be later described.

To prevent oscillation of the pile of stacked articles each time a new article is added to the bottom of the pile, I provide auxiliary stackholding arms |24 which take over the job of holding the pile of stacked articles each time the arms I I2 move downwardly from their uppermost position shown in Fig. 13. It will be noted that the upper ends of the arms ||2 are bent inwardly at |I2a which serves several purposes. As the folded article is moved above the arm portions ||2a by movement of the stacker plate the inwardly and upwardly inclined surfaces of the portions H211 guide the article smoothly past the arms il?. and into the stack. At the same time they cam the auxiliary arms |24 outwardly as will presently appear. These auxiliary arms have prongs I24d which enter through suitable openings |25 in the housing |I5 so that the prongs engage against the arms ||2 and are yieldingly urged inwardly by coil springs |26. Thus when the arms I l2 move down the prong portions I 24a Slide inwardly along the arm portions ||2a beneath the lowest article in the stack and remain there until the arm portions ||2a again return to their uppermost position at which time the prongs |24 are again cammed outwardly and the stack is again supported by the arm portions I |205. Referring to Figs. l and 14, it will be noted that the upper edges of the arm portions I|2Lz` slope downwardly and toward the rear in such a fashion that they are substantially alined with the plane of the stacker plate when the plate |65 and the arm portions ||2a pass each other in opposite directions at the time a new article is placed at the bottom of the stack.

Means is provided for counting the articles in I the stack and marking the stacked articles in numbered groups by positioning an article out of line with the rest of the stack. To this end a stop |21 normally extends upwardly through a suitable opening in plate |05 and most of the articles are stopped against the member |211. At predetermined intervals this stop is moved down- Wardly permitting one article to move against the end stop |28 thus causing one article to eX- tend beyond the normal line of the stack. The mechanism for accomplishing this is best seen in Figs. and 14. A ratchet wheel |29 is rotatably mounted on the outside of the stacker frame on a shaft |30. A generally Z-shape lever |3| is mounted for free oscillation on the shaft |36 and is biased in upward position by means of spring |32. Pivotally mounted on the lever I3|| is a ratchet pawl |33 urged by the flat spring |34 into engagement with the ratchet wheel. The

arm |3|a of the lever |3| extends into engagef' ment with an arm |35 which is rigidly attached to shaft which oscillates each time the stacker plate is reciprocated. 'I'he motion of lever |3| at each operation of the stacker is sufcient to move the ratchet wheel one tooth. A detent |29' holds the ratchet wheel against retrograde movement. The inner end of shaft |30 is bent up- Wardly at |36a at right angles to the portion of the shaft |30 upon which the ratchet wheel is mounted. Thus the end I30a moves in a circle by increments as the ratchet wheel advances one tooth at a time. In one position of the shaft |30 shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 10 it lies beneath a finger |36 which is a rigid extension of the arm I2`|a which carries the stop |21. Thus when the shaft I30a is in the dot-dash position of Fig. 10 when the stacker plate returns to its lcwermost position the nger |36 is moved in a clockwise direction against the bias of flat spring |31 causing clockwise movement of stopr |21 below the top surface of plate |05 permitting one article to move beyond that point and against the stop |28. After the next stacking operation the shaft I30a has moved out of engagement with the nger |36 and the next article strikes the stop |21 as before. Thus each group of articles is counted and marked in a manner determined by the number of teeth in the ratchet wheel |29.

Mechanism is provided for actuating the stacker plate |05 and the arms ||2 in timed relation to the movement of the folding blade 54 each time an article passes through the machine. Some time is consumed in the travel of the article from the cross folding rollers 46 and 41 to position in the stacking device and therefore some mechanism is required to delay the operation of the stacking device after the operation of the folding blade 54 to permit this time for article travel. Referring to Figs. 1, 8 and 9, the rod I 23 which actuates the stacker mechanism extends forwardly in the machine where it is pivotally connected at |38 to an arm |39 Which is pivotally supported on the machine frame at |40. A spring I4| biases the arm in a direction to return the stacker plate to its lowermost position. The arm |23 extends beyond the pivot point |38 and supports a roller |42 which ccacts with a cam |43 which is rigidly mounted on the sleeve |44 (Fig. 9) which is freely rotatable on the shaft 65. Rotatable With the shaft 65 is a toothed wheel |45 which is in all respects similar to the wheel 82 previously described in connection with the folding mechanism. Rigidly fastened to the sleeve 65 is a cam |46 which is adjusted to a predetermined position relative to the cam 64 which controls the cross folding blade 54. This cam I 46 actuates an arm |41 Which is rigidly fastened to a shaft |48 suitably journalled in the frame. One end of this shaft at |4811 is bent at right angles and is adapted to initiate the action of a one-revolution clutch mechanism in exactly the same manner as the solenoid 61 initiates the action of the mechanism shown in Fig. 8. This duplicate mechanism is best seen in Fig. l and comprises an arm |49 rigidly fastened to the sleeve |44 and carrying a latch mechanism |50 exactly like the latch mechanism 84 previously described. This normally engages a stop on the arm. |5| which performs the same functions as the arm 81 previously described. Since the other parts of this. clutch mechanism are all exactly similar to those already described in connection with Fig. 8, it is thought further description here is unnecessary. A pulley |52 rotatable with shaft 66 is connected by belt |53 with a pulley |54 on shaft |06 and serves to drive the conveyor belts in the stacker.

The operation of the stacker mechanism is as follows: The cam |46 oscillates lever |41 a predetermined time after cam 64 has caused an operation of the folding blade 54. This oscillates the portion |48a of shaft |48 causing arm |5| to remove the stop from the latch mechanism |53.

' This causes the latch mechanism to latch the arm |48 to the toothed wheel |45 and cause one revolution of the sleeve |44 and cam |43 which moves the rod |23 rearwardly causing oscillation of the T-shape member |I9 in a clockwise direction as Viewed in Fig. 10 so as to raise the stacker plate |65 and to lower the stack supporting arms ||2 causing a movement of an a1'- ticle into the stack. Further movement of the cam |43 permits the spring I4I to return the stacker plate to its lowerinost position while moving the arms H2 to their uppermost position.

What I claim is:

l. Folding apparatus comprising an article conveyor, a folding plate arranged in the path of article movement for folding a side portion of said article over upon another portion of said article along a line substantially parallel to the path of article movement, a plate independent of the folding plate and adapted to ride upon said folded portion of the article, and said riding plate having a longitudinal edge bent to at least partially embrace said article along said fold line.

2. Folding apparatus comprising a conveyor for moving an article along a path, means for folding said article longitudinally by movement of said article, blade means located along said path and beyond said first named folding means for cross folding said article, substantially parallel walls closely engaging the longitudinal edges of said longitudinally folded article, and walls more Widely spaced on the sides of said path of article movement at and beyond said blade means.

3. Combined folding and stacking apparatus comprising means for folding an article, operating means therefor including a one-revolution clutch mechanism, means for stacking a folded article positioned to receive an article from said folding means, operating means for said stacking means including a one-revolution clutch mechanism, and an operative connection between said clutch mechanism including a cam for initiating operation of said seco-nd named clutch mechanism a predetermined time after operation of said first named clutch mechanism.

`4. Folding apparatus comprising an article conveyor, a plurality of article folding ,plates in the path of article movement for successively folding side portions of said article over upon the central portion thereof, cross folding means located along said conveyor and beyond said folding plates, and a plate adapted to ride upon the top of said article between said folding plates and said cross folding means.

5. Folding apparatus comprising a conveyor for moving an article along a path, means for folding the article longitudinally by movement of said article, table means extending beyond said conveyor and curving arcuately downward, means located beyond said longitudinal folding means for cross folding said article, means controlling said cross folding means including an arm pivoted substantially at the center of said arc and having its free end located in the path of an article moving on said table means, and means controlling said arm and extending to the feed end of said co-nveyor.

6. In a combined folding and stacking apparatus providing in a single unit a conveyor for moving an article along a path, providing means along that path for cross folding said article and providing means in line with that path for stacking the folded articles, the new feature of an article supporting table in said path between said cross folding means and said stacking means. said table being curveddownwardly to accommodate long articles while holding the overall length of said unit to a minimum.

- HUGH W. GABBERT. 

